Not So Different
by lacitar13
Summary: Sima Yi switches Zhuge Liang and Wei Yan's minds. Can Shu survive?
1. The Set Up

Author's Note: I promised a fic where Zhuge Liang was *grumbles* nice. So here it is. Per usual Wei Yan is in it. They will be friends in this one. Maybe Zhuge Liang and Wei Yan fans can get along as well? I always was a dreamer. Anyhow, there will be some inconstancies compared to what really happened and some items like door structures. If ya don't like it, then stop reading here and go read ROTK instead of bugging me about it.  
  
Chapter 1:  
  
Sima Yi felt the beginnings of a smile slide across his face. Today would be the day that his most hated of enemies discovered what real pain was. Rising to his feet he pulled one scroll up from the chaos that was his desk. It was finally time to begin the ceremony that would bring about the downfall of Zhuge Liang.  
  
@--}--@--{--@  
  
Zhuge Liang stepped back away from the desk and headed for his bed. Four days had passed now without benefit of sleep. But how could one sleep with two other kingdoms pressing in? With a sigh he pulled off his hat and ran his fingers through his thick black hair. How indeed? He walked through the silent hallways, his only companion the flickering dance of the torches' light.  
  
A soft glow caught his attention. He paused, the starch white of his flowing robes making him appear more specter than man. It was the door leading to Yue Ying's chambers. Sighing, he raised his hand to knock, the ritual obligation to talk with her before seeking his bed making him feel older than his years. Before he could bring his fist down, he heard the first muted sob.  
  
A wave of regret flooded him. He knew why she cried. Had he not given his word to her that they would be equals? Why had he promised the impossible? Maybe years from now a woman could be noted for her intelligence and skills, but not in this time, not in this place. Oh she tried, but all the praise, all the devices she made were always considered his invention. How could they ever be equal with such a chasm separating them?  
  
Allowing his hand to fall, he moved back into the safeness of the shadows. Tonight he could not bear to look into her face and see the half concealed sadness. No, tonight he would bypass his kind wife and those gray eyes that shot arrows of disappointment at him. With no more than a whisper from his robes, he walked to his own chambers. Tonight he truly needed his rest.  
  
@--}--@--{--@  
  
Wei Yan finished his series of moves by spinning his weapon directly in front of him. None were there to watch the warrior practice. His men had long since gone back to their respective bunks, but he still did not tire. Setting the voulge down, he pulled the mask off, wiping at the sweat that had formed on his brow. With one hand he replaced it. Damn this inactivity! It reeked of Shu's doom.  
  
Wu was at bay for the moment. Their princess had indeed truly lost her heart to their lord. Zhou Yu had surely never considered for a moment that love might bloom between Liu Bei and the feisty maiden. It seemed all that kept their advance into Shu was Lady Shang Xiang's refusal to allow her brother to attack. But how long could a single woman keep Wu's armies in check? Not forever, that was certain.  
  
As for Wei, there was suspicious movement on the front. Sima Yi was planning something. If only they could find out what. Wei Yan picked up his voulge and swung it. Why would Zhuge Liang not listen to his advice to send out a spy? The mole that the strategist had planted was bringing no useful information.  
  
With a grunt, the masked general shook his head. One day he would discover why the man never listed to anything he said. It went beyond his speech abilities. With one last swing, he took his weapon and started back for his chambers. Tomorrow he would speak with the strategist again. Perhaps this time he would listen?  
  
@--}--@--{--@  
  
The spell curled its way around Sima Yi's body, lovingly covering him in a purple haze. Yes! The power was real this time! If this could not stop Zhuge Liang, then nothing ever would! With a laugh he drew the power to him tendril by tendril until two small tight balls of energy pulsed in each hand. Sweat peppered his face, but he could not afford to stop now. He turned to the ball of purest crystal that lay nestled on the stand on top of the table.  
  
With a smile he waved his hand, and reached through the magic of the crystal ball to see his enemy. Zhuge Liang lay straight and still, by himself, covered by a single thin silk blanket.  
  
If only his enemy knew what was about to happen. The Wei strategist almost wished that the man would awake so he could see his face when he finally won. He gave a soft laugh. No, allowing his enemy to wonder what madness gripped him would do until he could get his hands on the man himself.  
  
Sima Yi drew his focus away from his most hated foe, and concentrated on the other one, the feral general. Wei Yan lay sprawled in a nest of furs, the mask he wore in battle still on his face.  
  
With a laugh he launched the energy into the air. It would find its victims easily enough. His enemy should be allowed a sporting chance; after all he had been somewhat worthy against his own superior intelligence. Taking his fan up in a hand he danced out of the room. Tomorrow the real chaos would begin. 


	2. The Morning After

Author Notes: Sorry this is so short, but I'm off to Spain tomorrow! Yea! I'll be gone for a whole week. I will be taking my stories with me. I've been told I desperately need to update certain fics. Anyhow see ya in a few.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Wei Yan gave a growl of displeasure and tried to twist away from the sunlight that fell across his face. It was to no avail though. The happy little beam crawled its way past his up flung hand, and shot straight into his eyes. With a sigh, he sat up. Hadn't he put one of the furs over the window last night?  
  
Grumbling about not being allowed to sleep in, he lumbered to his feet. With a yawn, he stepped into a deep lunge. The gods forgive he even consider bypassing his morning stretches. Without them, he knew that the pain could keep him immobilized all day. Bleary eyed, he examined his toes. Wasn't the ground a little further away than usual? He looked down, seeing that not only was the ground farther away, but that he was garbed in one of Zhuge Liang's immaculate white robes. He straightened.  
  
What was this madness? Had some of the Shu generals decided to play a joke on him? He took a step, and tottered, his hand falling back to catch himself against the desk. Taking another step, he allowed himself to adjust to the higher placed center of balance. But, where was the pain? Closing his hands into fist he waited for the first spark of pain to ignite his system. None came.  
  
What sorcery was this? Panic clamored its way through his mind, threatening to sweep over him in a giant wave. No! He shut his eyes, thrusting away all thoughts. Air rushed through his lungs as he took several calming breathes. As the muscles in his back loosened, he opened his eyes.  
  
Cautiously, he lowered himself into a nearby chair. There had to be an explanation for this. Zhuge Liang must be testing a new spell. Yes, that was it. He would go find him. Surely he could not have switched that many people around in their bodies, not ever Lord Liu Bei would allow him that much reign.  
  
The door swung open, squeaking lightly on his hinges. The noise made him jump. "Good morning Prime Minister." Jiang Wei bowed before him, his mahogany hair sweeping the floor. "How did your work go last night?"  
  
Finally! He could tell Jiang Wei the whole thing and get a few more winks in while Zhuge Liang reversed whatever he had done. His mouth came open, but instead of his tale of woe, he heard himself say something completely different. "It went well." What? He opened his mouth to hear himself say, "Isn't it a marvelous morning?" What was going on? Why wasn't his mouth obeying him?  
  
Jiang Wei blinked. "Yes, it is." He brought up some papers that had been in his hand until now. "The spy has sent back information. Most of it is useless, but he did note that Sima Yi has been working very hard on collecting spell components for the last month."  
  
"What?" His jaw dropped open.  
  
"I said that the-"  
  
"We have a spy in Wei?"  
  
"Of course Prime Minister. You hand picked each of them yourself." Jiang Wei's brow furrowed. "Don't you remember that?"  
  
A minute shock of pain ran through his frame. "Of course I do." He rose to his feet. "Now if you'll excuse me."  
  
"But we haven't even gone over the morning agenda." Jiang Wei's dark eyes were wide. We must go over it this morning. If not the spies might contuine looking in the wrong places for the information we seek.  
  
"Of course." Wei Yan sighed. Apparently he would be stuck here for a while.  
  
@--}--@--{--@  
  
Zhuge Liang awoke to an avalanche of pain. It cut through his body as though someone was dragging his intestines out with hot iron hooks. He had been awake with the dawn, only to find himself confined to this prison without walls. His voice didn't appear to work. All he could get out of it was low-pitched whimpers and grunts of pain. He was a proud man, but he with his knees shoved up against his stomach, and his arms wrapped tightly around his body, the pain lessened.  
  
"Boy! Open up! I need someone to-" The voice trailed off into silence. Footsteps sounded closer, then gentle hands pulled his face up, pointing it in the direction of a hesitant ray of sun. "Wei Yan?"  
  
He tried to respond, to tell the man he was mistaken, but all that came out was a whimper.  
  
"Child, did you not do your stretches this morning?" The man had a hand on Zhuge Liang's sweaty face, strocking his hair out of his eyes.  
  
Tears stung his eyes, his mouth moved, but nothing came out.  
  
"What about the herbal poultice I gave you?"  
  
He managed to slightly shake his head. What was the Huang Zhong talking about?  
  
"Stay here child. I'll go get some help." With that the old man was gone. Zhuge Liang hugged himself tight. Surely the man would get help. The pain had to stop. Didn't it?  
  
@--}--@--{--@  
  
Wei Yan sat trying to concentrate on the scroll in front of him. Jiang Wei just continued droning on and on. Didn't the man have anything better to do than report to Zhuge Liang? Wasn't there some musty scroll somewhere screaming his name?  
  
He had tried several times to tell the young general seated across from him what was going on. Each time though his mouth would work, but the words he wanted to say would remain tightly entrenched in his mouth. He had also discovered, that anytime he gave out incorrect information or acted surprised about something that small sparks of pain would roll through his body. There was no mention of others being found in their wrong bodies. Worry ate away at him. Zhuge Liang had to be found. Fast.  
  
Of course there was the problem of the prodigy to the world's greatest strategist. Jiang Wei continued reading the boring report, looking up every once in a while to make sure his audience hasn't drifted off to sleep. Just when Wei Yan had given up hope of seeing his body or Zhuge Liang that day, Huang Zhong burst through the door.  
  
He felt a foolish grin on his face. Maybe he could tell the man he considered a father what was really going on? Wei Yan was about to open his mouth when the man vaulted the desk and wrapped his hands around his throat. "Whatever you did to him, sorcerer, you better begin reversing it!"  
  
Spots danced before his eyes. There was no air left from the surprise attack for him to utter one consonant let alone a whole word.  
  
"Leave him!" He saw a flash of brown and green, and then the hands disengaged themselves from around his neck. Wei Yan gulped down air. Huang Zhong lay sprawled on the ground with Jiang Wei astride him. "You will explain yourself now!" The young general held his trident to the throat of the old man.  
  
Huang Zhong pushed angrily at the man on top of him, but Jiang Wei would not budge. "Zhuge Liang never liked the boy. He must have done something to him. That's the only thing that explains it!"  
  
Wei Yan took a step forward. "What do you mean?"  
  
Huang Zhong's voice rose in a shout. "You know exactly what I mean!"  
  
Wei Yan kneeled down beside the men and gently tugged Jiang Wei off the older man. "No. I don't know. Tell me what happened."  
  
His heart lurched as Huang Zhong brushed at one eye angrily. "I went to see if the boy wanted to practice. He was on the floor in pain."  
  
Jiang Wei, once again on his feet, sighed and pushed his bangs back. "He probably went out drinking with Zhang Fei last night. I saw Guan Yu dragging his swornbrother back to his bedroom last night."  
  
Huang Zhong shook his head. "No. The boy doesn't drink." He paused, then stared straight into Wei Yan's eyes. "The boy has an old wound that causes him a lot of pain. Back when we joined up, I heard your wife knew about medicine, so I asked her to help him."  
  
Wei Yan opened his mouth to yell at the man that he never needed help with his problem when the man shushed him juat by holding up a hand.  
  
"She told me that you wouldn't like it. I doubt the boy would've accepted her help either since you tried to have him put to death. So we went behind both your backs. She taught me what I needed to know and I taught the child." His eyes grew bright, as though with unshed tears. "Something's wrong though. He can't even talk. Your wife is with him now. Says she needs your help." The man fell to his knees, his head touching the ground. "Please, save my boy."  
  
My boy. Huang Zhong had always been friendly and tried to help him out. He had never called him 'my boy' before though. Was that how the man thought of him? Like he was a son?  
  
A cough brought Wei Yan out of his thoughts. The older general was still bowing, but now he looked up at the man expectantly. His eyes were bloodshot, and had an odd weariness to them. Hands that on the battlefield were solid and strong now shook.  
  
"Of course." Wei Yan bowed and helped the older general to his feet. "Come, we will discover what is amiss." There. That sounded like something Zhuge Liang would say.  
  
"Come! We must hurry!" Huang Zhong took off at a run in the direction of Wei Yan's room.  
  
With a shudder, he followed. He hadn't thought of how the bloodlust and the pain would affect Zhuge Liang, if it was him. Even though he long since stopped believing in any of the gods, he gave up a small prayer to them, hoping it would be enough to see the strategist through the pain.  
  
@--}--@--{--@  
  
Answers to Reviews  
  
Gingivere the Shadowreave: We can only hope the fanatic Zhuge Liang fans will leave me alone. If not I'll just give them as a chew toy to Wei Yan. ^_^ Glad you liked it. I promised this fic eventually. Now I just gotta figure out who old Zhuge Liang is going to end up with. I'm thinking Zhen Ji right now to be honest. Then again....he's just so difficult for me to imagine with any woman.  
  
Yukira: Yes, I've noticed food does help my reviews as well. Moutain Dew though makes my reviews over a page long. Mountain Dew is evil! So is Jolt. As for Wei Yan and Yue Ying, you've figured me out. The only thing is how long this time will it take them to get together? *grumbles about how slow the two move* So I'm definetly going to need somenoe to heal poor Zhuge's heart. It's still up in the air though. Before Zhuge Can do much more though, he's gonna need to work past Wei Yan's speech problem as well as the bloodlust. And Wei Yan's gonna have to see that Zhuge isn't a power- hungry monster puppetmaster. Not to mention figuring out the whole magic deal. As for the rest, I'm a working on it.  
  
AmaDono: I can't help it! Everything I write as Wei Yan in it. *sobs* We'll see if the two men can work out their differences and work together or if we should just set fire to Shu. 


End file.
